WE fully understand that many local people are very concerned about the flaring that occurred at the Mossmorran complex in June.

Our focus is on ensuring that we investigate fully what happened and that similar events do not re-occur.

For clarity, SEPA regulates the environmental aspects of the Mossmorran complex where both Shell and ExxonMobil hold permits. These include conditions relating to flaring and controls applied under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations.

A team of SEPA staff are currently carrying out a full investigation.

We gave a commitment at the Mossmorran Action Group meeting held in Lochgelly in July to provide updates on the progress of our investigation, and we would like to take this opportunity to reassure the public that this remains the case.

Our investigation will look into what caused the flaring to occur and assess whether there have been any breaches of permit conditions by either company.

This investigatory work is part of an evidence gathering process which will inform any future enforcement actions, one of which could be the submission of a report to the Procurator Fiscal, and as such we are not in a position to release the details of the investigation at this time.

Our investigation is therefore on-going and we’d like to reassure the public that we will continue to engage with community representatives and will share what information we can when we can.

IAN BUCHANAN,

Head of Regulatory Services

Scottish Environment Protection Agency